North Little Rock man’s appeal of sentence for firebombing police cars during George Floyd protests denied

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – The United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit upheld an earlier district court ruling that led to a North Little Rock man’s prison sentence.

The court’s Friday decision maintained that the law was properly applied when Mujera Benjamin Lung’aho received a federal prison sentence. Lung’aho was sentenced after pleading guilty to firebombing three police cars during the 2020 George Floyd protests.

Lung’aho’s appeal was based on his belief that the statute was improperly applied to him because it was a federal sentence and the police cars were state or local government property.

The court found that since the North Little Rock, Little Rock and Arkansas State Police received federal financial assistance, the court was correct in applying the law, despite the cars not being purchased directly by the federal government.

According to court records, the three cars, one from each department, received $86,099.37 in damage when Molotov cocktails were thrown in a series of attacks during the Floyd protests on Aug. 25 and 26, 2020. Four others were sentenced along with Lung’aho for their role in the firebombing.

Lung’aho, who officials said was the leader of the group, was given a 66-month federal prison sentence in December 2023 and was ordered to pay $86,099.37 in restitution.